Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about family violence, and I thank the honourable member for the chance to speak about this epidemic. Today I am speaking on behalf of a woman whom I met and spoke with only last week about her own experience fleeing from family violence. Unfortunately I am all too aware of how widespread and devastating this problem is for our society, as parts of my electorate are on the wrong end of family violence statistics. According to New South Wales Police, areas on the Central Coast, including Wyong, where I grew up, have consistently higher-than-average incidences of family violence than many other areas of the state. That is one of the reasons I need to speak today.

It has become obvious that any effective approach to addressing family violence must be multifaceted, holistic and led by the federal government. We know that family violence has a wide range of contributing factors, including but not limited to gambling, alcohol and drug dependency, education, lack of options for victims, ineffective legal systems and an unfair stigma around survivors and whistleblowers. It is against this backdrop that I acknowledge Wyong's Woman of the Year, Danielle Habib. Danielle has not just worked for women in the community through organisations like White Ribbon, the Central Coast Domestic Violence Committee and the Central Coast Community Women's Health Centre but taken this work into migrant communities that are often difficult to access for health professionals and police. I thank her for her work and note that we can all look to women like Danielle across our communities in Australia who are the front line in addressing family violence.

In my local community we also have a number of organisations that work to protect and further the rights of victims. I draw attention to the work of the Central Coast Domestic Violence Committee in coordinating these efforts. However, this government is failing to adequately support family violence groups and survivors throughout Australia. A lack of both policy initiative and funding is costing lives and endangering people at risk every day. The Rondeley Program, part of Coast Shelter in my electorate of Dobell, provides critical support for women and children fleeing family violence but is limited by lack of funds and facilities. Last week I had the opportunity to meet with Nicole, the program manager of their domestic violence response enhancement project. Nicole told me of the women and families they support and the many more people in need they can't help, because the service is already overstretched and overworked. They worked with over 600 women and children last year alone and have formed a well-respected network with local law enforcement and community groups. They need funding to extend this work. They also look to government to put in place policies that let them do their best work, and that is what Labor would like to make happen.

Labor believes in working constantly with groups like this to help to improve the lives of those escaping dangerous situations and in showing leadership by putting in place national policies that address family violence. When Gough Whitlam introduced the single mothers pension in 1973, it didn't just support vulnerable families; it gave women threatened by family violence the chance to leave without the fear of not being able to provide for their children. This is one example in a proud Labor history of advancing women's rights in overcoming family violence. I am proud that I can stand here with my colleagues today to discuss the next step of this continuing campaign to protect women, children and victims of family violence across Australia.

On too many occasions I have met with desperate victims seeking help without having the necessary tools to support them, from my days as a mental health professional to now as a local MP. It is frustrating that we are rarely given an opportunity to make a serious difference in this area. We don't have the tools. That is why I was relieved to hear that Labor, if elected, will be implementing a mandatory period of 10 days family violence leave. Any reasonable person knows that if you are fleeing from a violent home, particularly with children, it would be near impossible for you to go to work. The woman whom I met last week was in exactly that situation. She had a young child and was trying to find rental accommodation while trying to maintain her work. Between police stations, courthouses, real estate agents, counselling and countless other steps people must take when removing themselves from such dangerous circumstances, it is simply not fair for them to have their employment jeopardised.

Labor is not the only institution in Australia to recognise this. I want to take this chance to commend some of our business leaders on already implementing family violence leave of 10 days or often more. More than one million Australian workers at companies like Telstra, Qantas and Virgin can already be confident that, should their world be turned upside down by family violence, their jobs will be safe and they will have time to focus on their and their family's safety.

I'm really seeking support for this, as I said, as a mental health worker, a pharmacist and as a local MP. This must change.

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